The next match-up was going to be decided in about an hour. Akia decided to go check up on Bakura, since he did invite her to go see him. When she got there, she knocked on his door. The Spirit of the Ring, still in control, went and opened the door for her. He invited her in and closed the door behind her. He looked at her, feeling an emotion that he thought he'd never feel. He was apologetic and worried about her. He cared for her, but he didn't want to admit that.
The Dark Spirit was fuelled by almost a compulsion to collect all the Millennium Items. He didn't know why exactly, but he knew it was the only way for him to be complete. Just like the Nameless Pharaoh, the Ring's Spirit had lost many of his memories. He sought to uncover them and reclaim the power of Darkness that he knew belonged to him. Whatever attraction he was having towards Akia was probably due to her being an essential key to his plans. He decided to trust his instincts, nonetheless, and gave her a gentle hug from the back.
"How are you feeling?" He whispered in her ear, his warm breath giving her goosebumps. He then started kissing her neck, making her let out a small little whimper.
Akia didn't fight it since she was actually enjoying the closeness. "I-I'm fine. It's definitely not what I expected a hit from a hologram to feel like." She tried to calm herself, worried about the real Bakura's well-being.
"It seems like it was not just a hologram." He said in between kisses. Akia's face was heating up and her breaths were getting shorter. She felt as though her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
He turned her around and, as he was about to kiss her, she put a hand up on his mouth, stopping him. "How is Ryou's body? How is Ryou?"
The Spirit of the Ring rolled his eyes as he backed off, taking a step backwards. "Heh. You saw him. He's in a lot of pain. Do you want me to show you again?"
Akia didn't want to see Bakura in pain, but she really wanted to talk to the real one. "I want to talk to Ryou..."
The Spirit of the Ring shrugged. "Suit yourself."
The Millennium Ring shone in a bright light and Akia saw Bakura's expression change from arrogance and confidence to confusion and pain. As his body was too weak to keep him standing, his legs buckled, but Akia held onto him, her arms wrapped tightly around his back, under his arms.
"Akia-chan..." Bakura was so disoriented and in pain that he started to hyperventilate.
"It's okay, Ryou... I'm here for you." Akia managed to calm him down while talking softly to him and stoking his hair gently. When he calmed down he was able to get up with her supporting him and Akia sat him down on the bed. She sat next to him and put a hand on his.
"What... happened to me...? Where are we...?" The white-haired boy asked.
Akia took a deep breath, debating on how to explain everything that had happened so far to him. "I'll tell you everything. From the beginning..." Akia then started recounting all that had happened since their date. She talked about how she met Ishizu and how she was told things that she swore not divulge to him because of the Spirit in his Ring. She also talked about the first kiss that was forced on her by him.
When she did, Bakura's face heated up. "He kissed you...?!"
"Yeah... I didn't want to put you in an uncomfortable situation by telling you, but I figured that you had the right to know since it was your body after all."
Bakura hid his face in his hands. "I wish it was me..." He muffled into his hands. Akia's heart skipped a beat. It made her so much happier to hear this from Bakura than to hear all of the other things that the Spirit of the Ring had said to her.
"I... wish it was you too..." Akia whispered. She was surprised that she was able to actually say that. Was she taking the first steps in defying destiny? Was it because of how badly Marik had hurt and rejected her? Whatever it was, she had hope that she may be liberated from him in the near future.
Bakura smiled shyly when he heard her say that. She smiled back and took his hand into hers. She continued telling him about Battle City, Marik's return, his schemes, the Evil Spirit of the Ring's actions, what she knew about his injury and how she believed it was a set up... She told about Marik and Namu, and finally, she told him about the events of the Finals. She described to him what Ishizu had said about destiny binding her and Marik together and how the Spirit that was possessing Bakura made out with her. She also told him how she stopped the Spirit of the Ring from going further, partly because she wanted it to be Bakura for real and partly because her mind was flooded with thoughts of Marik.
"In the end, Marik just flat out rejected me. But I think it's a good thing, since it feels like this bond forced on us by destiny is breaking." She recounted the events of the duel between him and Yugi. "I feel so pathetic, thinking I could shield you and be fine, haha! Tried to act all cool but I ended up being knocked out pretty easily."
Bakura wasn't laughing, though. He had a very worried expression on his face. "Akia-chan... I'm so sorry about everything. I'm sorry for being so weak. I'm sorry for all that you went through because of me."
"No, Ryou! None of this is your fault at all. You're the real victim in all of this." Akia took his face in her hands and turned his gaze to hers. He started blushing when he recalled all of the things she had told him that the Spirit of the Ring did to her with his body.
"I can't believe he made out with you... Did you... enjoy it?" Bakura asked.
It was now Akia's turn to blush intensely. "Um... Yes and no?"
He understood what she meant, since she had told him about how conflicted she was in that moment.
"Would you... like this more?" Bakura got closer to her face and kissed her. It was the softest, most gentle kiss she had ever felt, considering the only other person who kissed her before was the Spirit of the Ring. Bakura was so much sweeter and, even though it was the same body, it felt completely different. It made her so much happier and so much more into it than before. She wasn't just letting it happen anymore to forget about Marik. She was so fully swept away by this one kiss that she longed for more. Bakura, to her dismay, broke away from the kiss, his face as red as a tomato.
The sight made Akia smile widely. "I like this much more."
Deep down, though, Akia still felt so conflicted. It felt good, but it somehow didn't even feel close to the happiness she felt when she was hugging Marik.
"I wish that I was in better shape so that I can hug you tightly right now and spend more time with you... But I do feel extremely tired. I think I will need to rest for a while, especially that I want to see you dueling if possible," the white-haired boy said in dismay.
Akia nodded and helped him get into bed. "Rest well and get better so that you can see how awesome I am."
Akia grinned to him. He smiled back and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Akia headed out to the assembly room again, in anticipation of the next match-up.